Choices
by Seaninshades
Summary: When Clove volunteered as tribute, she did it out of pure pressure. She never wanted or intended to volunteer. It was never her dream. When she sees the tribute from district 12, she is forced to confront what she feels for the first time in her life.
1. Prologue

_Prologue_

Every day you make certain choices that will define your life. The smallest things will define if you go either right or left. I never wanted to train, I never wanted to volunteer, and I never wanted to be a tribute.  
>But I chose to accept my fate. I know why I was born in the first place; I know that this was the only path life had in mind for me. To be truthful, I wanted to act. I guess this is the same, smile to the camera. The hunger games are a show after all; I guess I have to be grateful for that.<p>

I never regretted what I had agreed to my whole life. I never regretted training every day, and I never regretted choosing this kind of road, things like love, friendship, and family had never even once entered my mind.  
>I knew how it felt to be dependent of something; I knew that I needed my parents, otherwise I would have nothing.<br>So when I saw my father's hard gray eyes on me at the reaping, my voice just acted on its own.  
>I was good at acting; I used to watch myself in the mirror rehearsing the lines I knew would escape my mouth when I entered the competition.<br>Every sleepless night I would stand there, in dim light, speaking with the most soft and yet determined voice I could, I knew I couldn't be loud; my parents are not heavy sleepers.

Acting was not only about the lines. It required facial expressions, posture and voice. All these parts I had mastered at a very early age, I knew I had to. I was born to be something I was not, but with this kind of talent, I could please anyone to the point of where they would leave me alone.

The words had escaped my lips before I could even think twice. I had volunteered to early; I was not going to volunteer for another two years. But those grey eyes had made my mind go blank, and it was too late now.

This was the first time ever that I had stopped to think about all the choices I had made throughout my life. Seeing as I would be going to a place where I would most likely die, I finally found peace enough to reminisce about the past. In this very moment I felt regret for the first time. I regretted volunteering, I regretted training, and I regretted never going to see "A black day" at the cinema.  
>It felt disgusting, it really did. A feeling taking over my whole body was something I hadn't experienced since I was just a child, and when it happened once again it just had to be regret, then disgust. It just didn't seem fair, that I had been walking around making all these shallow choices, eating meals with my shallow parents, putting on a charade for all their shallow friends, not ever feeling a thing, and now I had to feel this.<br>Why couldn't I feel good over the delicious food that was being served, or happy that my mentor really believed in me? These kinds of questions are just dead ends, there is never an answer.

Once upon a time my mother had told me that she would be so proud of me if I won the hunger games. I was not yet mature enough to really understand what was so great about the hunger games, to me it just seemed like a big bloodbath, but my mother had always tried to convince me that being a part of the hunger games was one of the greatest honors life can bring you.  
>To me honor and fame seemed meaningless, but as dependent of my mother as I was, I had no other choice but to agree, accept, and play along.<p>

At this point, I know that my childish instincts were correct, the Hunger games was nothing more than a bloodbath. From this point on, I just had to wait it out, die honorably as one of the top three. Make my mother proud, fulfill my life's journey.

My name is Clove, and I'm the female tribute from district two the 74th annual Hunger Games.


	2. First time

The train ride had not been very long, or at least it felt that way.  
>Before I could even gather my thoughts I was shoved up against a window by the male tribute from district 2, being told to wave and smile at the crowd.<br>My insides turned into knots, there were people as far as my eyes could reach, I did as I was told, and received eager waves and smiles in return. This was disgusting, it felt so very wrong. I did my best to keep my face, but the annoying feeling that was churning in my stomach would not go away.

The people on the outside were all dressed in peculiar clothing, with all kinds of weird make up.  
>It's all an act, I could see it. I doubt any of these people really care; they are just as shallow as the rest of this wicked country.<p>

After greeting the spectators through the window, we arrived at the remake center.  
>This felt just as shallow and disgusting as the rest of this charade. The opening ceremony was evidently some kind of big spectacle that was of big importance. I could not see the point of this.<p>

Suddenly, a small pale man appeared in front of me.

"Hello, my name is Phelix. I'm your personal stylist and I will be in charge of what you will look like at public appearances. " The man stretched his hand towards me, and I shook it lightly, plastering a smile on my face. His green eyes sparkled for a second before he released the soft grip of my hand, and gestured towards two equally small women.

"This is Sia" He gestured against a small girl with very pink hair "and this is Yves".  
>My eyes drifted to the other girl, she seemed rather amused by me. Her green hair made my eyes burn, I wanted to cut it off. Too bad I didn't wield any knifes.<br>The two girls took a short bow before exchanging looks; they seemed to have some kind of understanding.

"Now, I must say that you have a very strong bone structure, and a very athletic appearance, I know just the thing to make you stand out at the opening ceremony. But before that, we will take care of the basics" The small man clapped his hands, signaling the two girls to take action. They escorted me to a small room with gray walls and small spotlights in the ceiling. The only thing that took place in this room was a bathtub, and I could already smell the soap.

The following hours was filled with bathing, manicure, pedicure, waxing, several skin and hair treatments, and at last, the styling.

While Sia was making the final touches on my hair I saw in the mirror how Phelix came walking with a big steel hanger rolling in front of him. His tiny steps could barely keep the steel creation rolling. But when he finally arrived, I realized that he had retrieving my costume.

"It's a roman warrior's armor. I thought it would fit you and Cato just perfectly. You both express this kind of mystical strength."

I would be lying if I said that I didn't like the idea. This was a different role that he was offering me. I could play strong, ruthless, intimidating at the most. I loved the Idea; I might as well make a good show out of it all.

"I love it, I really do. What does Cato think?" I gave the pale man a reassuring smile before dismissing Sia that now was done with my hair.

"Oh, he said that it looks intimidating." He leaned into my ear "Between me and you, I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing." He swayed back into place and shot me a wink, making me produce a giggle I didn't know I had.

"It's fine, no one really understands him anyway." I reassured him.  
>"Good, because we don't have much time left and I need you to go change young lady. Meet me at the chariot when you are done" He left shortly after, leaving me alone in the styling room, only to put my suit on.<br>It was a bit hard, getting the armor to sit just right, but after a few minutes I was as ready as one can be for an opening ceremony. When I found Phelix we only had a few moments left until the ceremony started, we were second in place to enter and frankly, the nerves were getting to me.

As we were waiting for the signal to go in, I felt a pair of annoying eyes burn into me, I looked to my side, seeing Cato's eyes tracing every shape and line of my face.  
>"Hey, you look kind of pale. Are you alright?" Cato shot me a smug grin after he had spoken, making my inside's turn with anger.<br>"It's make up, you look like a ghost yourself."  
>"Oh, I just thought that you looked a bit nervous" He grinned once again before shrugging his shoulders and turning towards the chariot in front of us. I could feel my jaw clench with frustration, as he chuckled in amusement.<p>

Suddenly our chariot was moving, I hadn't noticed that the gates had opened and that we were moving against a crowd cheering us on. Instincts took its turn and soon a wide smile was plastered across my lips, greeting the spectators as they cheered us and the rest of the tributes on.

A big screen was zooming in and out on the tributes entering in line, and that's when I saw her.  
>It struck like lightning through me, making my ears buzz, my insides to knot together, my muscles to tickle. I felt nauseous, that's the only thing that could remotely explain how I felt.<p>

She was beautiful, not beautiful like an actor, not like any one at all actually. Not like a model, or those stupid popular kids in school.  
>She was naturally beautiful. Even though she had make up, and probably a whole lot of styling done to her, anyone could see that she was like an unpolished diamond. Rough, but yet tremendously gorgeous. At first she seemed confused, but then a small smile escaped and took action upon her lips. I feared that any second I would fall out of the chariot, as I felt my knees weaken.<p>

When I got my hearing back, the speech was already over and the crowd was roaring in excitement.  
>The urge to get out of there was grave, and soon the ceremony was over.<br>The girl from district 12 had taken me off guard, and I did not appreciate it.

After the chariot ride and greeting many citizens of the capitol with waves and smiles, we arrive at the training center.

Our mentor guides me and Cato to a big flat on level 2, where he leaves us with the explanation "This is all yours, for now. I will see you tomorrow"

As the man left cato turned to me with a stern look in his eyes. What now?  
>"I'm going to get some sleep, we have training tomorrow. Goodnight" The boy swiftly turned on his feet and walked towards one of the nearest rooms, slamming the door behind him.<br>Being left all alone was weird. I hadn't really been alone for a while now, and thoughts of the brown haired tribute still ghosted my mind. I turned around taking a few steps into the main hall, where a big table resided. Various kinds of fruits and drinks was neatly placed on top, and hungry from exhaustion, I really needed to take a snack before going to sleep.

I sat down in the middle of the table and flicked on the television. They were showing bits and pieces from the ceremony, and just as I was taking a sip of orange juice, they showed a video of the tribute girl from district 12. I couldn't help but to feel a swelling in my chest, and as I choked on the juice they exclaimed from the screen. "Katniss, _the girl on fire!"_

"Katniss?" I murmured under my strained breath, eyeing the screen that was showing her smiling face. I hurriedly turned the screen off and munched down the last bit of my apple.  
>My mind was racing; it just didn't make sense, no thoughts what so ever made sense. What kind of demon is she, to have this effect on me? Just by seeing her, this feeling which I cannot defy takes over my body; making me act such as if I was on drugs. It was terrifying. In just two days my body had experienced countless amounts of feeling, which it was not used to.<p>

I quickly waltzed over to the other bedroom, closing the door behind me. I was out of breath, my mind was rumbling, my body was sweating and shaking. Maybe I was sick? No, just terrified. Infected with _her._

I decided that this was another dead end question; I wouldn't think about it nor act upon it.  
>Sleep was my only option, so I stumbled towards the bed, removing the sheets and laying my being down upon it. I covered myself with the silky fabric before shutting my eyes closed, determined that sleep would release me, that this would all be over in the morning.<p> 


	3. Get up

"Get up; we have to be down at the training center in 30 minutes!" Cato's dark voice penetrated my dreams and made me stir out of sleep.  
>"Holy crap, could you <em>not<em> yell in the middle of the morning?" I muffled through the sheets before turning to sit up. However, when my eyes gathered my surroundings, he was no longer in the room.  
>Annoyed by the sudden awakening, I got out of bed and left the empty room behind me.<p>

The smell that my nose detected when I got out told me that they were serving bacon this morning, and much to my satisfaction, the display of various dishes on the table included fried bacon strips.  
>I took a seat on the opposite side of Cato and started filling my plate with nothing else than bacon. The television was on, and as usual they were talking about the tributes of this year's hunger games, some girl named Rue was their subject of discussion this time.<p>

"It's good that you want a lot of energy, but if you keep eating like that you're soon going to be too fat to make it in the games." I stopped my intensive act of gobbling down bacon to lift my gaze up to Cato. I was met with a goofy, and oh so very annoying grin.  
>"In that case you shouldn't eat at all." His grin vanished at once.<br>"I'm not fat, I'm way…!" His anger was boiling out of his skin; I could literarily see it dripping of him when the screen interrupted his rant.

"_One of the early favorites is the tribute from district 12, the girl on fire, Katniss Everdeen!_"  
>"I'm going to kill that one." He simply stated, and for a second I thought my body was going to shatter into a million of pieces. I shrugged it off gently, that uncomfortable feeling settling over me once again.<br>"Not if I kill her first." I stated in the most challenging voice I could manage to produce. The blonde's eyes went wide in frustration before he shook his head and ejected himself from the chair.  
>"I'm going down now, don't be late."<br>"Whatever you say, Goldilocks." I watched as he stomped off and I couldn't help but chuckle, amused at the fact that I actually had the power to make him annoyed, or even embarrassed.  
>I took my time eating the delicious bacon, and drinking the sweet juice. Meanwhile, I watched as the screen kept showing bits of Katniss over and over again, and just as I had hoped the previous night, I didn't feel horribly out of place. Instead, I felt some kind of urge. I was curious, that much was clear.<p>

Feeling perfectly happy with the meal that only consisted out of bacon strips, I turned the screen off and made my way to the training grounds, there was Phelix waiting with a pair of clothes in his hands.

"Clove, darling. You're supposed to be in there in five minutes. Change into these and get out there quickly." He gave me the clothes and then shooed me into a small dressing room. It was a small gray room with a mirror, and the only smell I could make out was one of paint. They must have repainted this recently.

Quickly I made it into the clothes and out of the dressing room, where I was met with a pair of blue eyes. It felt as if my skin was on fire, and my heart had suddenly made its way up to my throat.  
>Our eyes locked, for barely a second. Still it felt like the tension was so thick I could cut through it with a knife. She and the boy from her district walked through the door into the training grounds, and I awkwardly followed them.<p>

"So, I see all of you have made it here in time." The trainer started, as I made my way over to Cato, that was standing with the boy and girl from district one.  
>The speech didn't last very long; it was basically just a round of rules. The information didn't really stick though, my mind was all messed up over again. There she was, breathing, listening, watching, just as the rest of us. But she wasn't like the rest of us, and it bothered me that no one else seemed to notice that fact. It irritated me, just like it did when I as a child didn't understand why no one saw the beauty in knifes. That question was never answered, and so I realized this was not going to be answered either.<p>

"Now, you boys will be going over here with me." The male trainer stated and started walking against a couple of dummies that was probably used to train in swordsmanship.

"Girls, you come over here with me." The female trainer gestured towards a shooting range. Great, at least I got to do something I was truly good at.

"We're going to take turns in ranged weapons. We have 6 stalls, so you will have to go in pairs. In an hour, we're going to change places with the boys. Any kind of ranged weapon is fine, now get started or I will have to punish you."  
>I made my way over to the stall at the far end to the left, and started observing the collection of knifes that was neatly hung on a board to the left.<br>I traced a very small dagger by its blade, before deciding that it would do just great.

"Hey" A soft voice emerged from behind me. I snapped my head just to be met by the strong gaze from those familiar blue eyes. Instantly my skin was on fire again, and my mouth felt too dry to produce words, so I just stared at her.  
>"All the other bows were taken, so I'll just take this." She gestured towards the bow on the right board. Her voice was magnificent, soft, determined, and strong.<br>I didn't look at the bow, and I could see that it startled her. My eyes hadn't left her for even a split second yet after all.  
>"Do you talk?" She seemed kind of annoyed with the fact that I didn't answer her, so I mustered up all the energy I could to simply answer her that "Yes, yes I can."<br>I couldn't take this anymore; I needed to focus on not dying in this place.

I picked up the small dagger and took my stand so that I could easily aim at the target. With a slow exhale to steady my nerves, I closed my eyes for a second, and then opened them. I pulled my arm back before extending it forward, letting the dagger fly through air and right into the bulls eye on the targets head. Satisfied with my accomplishment, even though I knew I wasn't steady, I moved backwards, to give space to the dark haired beauty.

I watched as she removed a strand of her hair behind her ear, before she laid an arrow against the bow and raised it into aim. She exhaled, drew her hand back, and released. The arrow shot a straight line into the bulls eye on the abdomen of the target dummy.  
>Safe to say I was a bit shocked that she had such an intimidating skill, she was from district 12 after all; you never suspect that kind of skill from one of them.<p>

We took turns, never sharing a single word between us. I couldn't make myself, no matter how curious I was of this girl. Time after time I saw her shoot right in the middle, and at least once she caught me gawking my eyes out.  
>It was embarrassing, really. However, the ranged training was over for the day, and we made out may to the Melee combatting grounds.<p>

"Any kinds of blades are allowed at this station, there are twelve dummies, knock yourself out. Although, one last thing. I do advice you all to try out using the sword."

It made perfect sense to train with a sword; that didn't mean I liked it.  
>So when I picked one of the smaller swords up, I could feel the clenching in my jaw once again. The sword was always my dad's weapon, and I despised it.<p>

"Uaargh!" I turned around to see that a red haired girl had made a thrust with the sword into the abdomen of the dummy; it actually looked kind of dangerous. It would definitely have been fatal.

And in the corner of my eye, I saw how a shape made of dark hair was moving -almost dancing- around the dummy. My eyes drifted towards her, and when I gathered what I was seeing, I couldn't help but to smile. Katniss was moving around the dummy, dagger in hand, slicing shallow wounds on its hard surface. And by experience with daggers, I knew that if a person had to go through all those shallow wounds, it would still be fatal with time being.

"Don't just stand around, come on. Get some work done." I heard the trainers' voice from behind.  
>I turned around, facing the dummy, sword in hand, and started hitting it with the blade. I wasn't strong, I knew that, so the sword really didn't prove to be that much of a help, in the end I was slicing through the surface of my target with a knife the size of my foot.<p>

"Okay everyone, have a 15 minute break to drink something and then meet us at the obstacle course." The trainers dismissed us all and soon Cato was standing by my side.  
>"Hey, why the fuck where you paired up with number twelve? Didn't you say just this morning that you will be the one to kill her?"<br>"Hold up mom, I'm not pregnant or anything" I managed to tell him.  
>"Seriously Clove. You could've paired up with Glimmer."<br>"I didn't care whom I paired up with. I was just there for the training."  
>"We need to make powerful allies, every single second is critical. We need both Marvel and Glimmer."<br>"Well, why won't you take care of that while I make sure to keep training?" I made sure that my posture was right, the tone of my voice, the smug grin.  
>"Whatever" he grunted in defeat, walking over to the tributes from district 1.<br>When I was acting this way it felt kind of right, I didn't want to be this kind of person, but for some reason it felt just about right to make Cato annoyed. He was way stronger than me, so I suspected that he would be the death of me in the end.

The obstacle course wasn't very hard; I had the second best time. That kid Rue had the best time, and it stung a bit to know that someone out of the career districts had a better time than me.  
>No matter how much I despised the games, no matter how much I despised being trained like this, it was still hard to know that I wasn't the best at something that I had dedicated my whole life to.<br>The rest of the day went by in the blink of an eye, and before I knew it, I was sitting on the edge of my bed, staring at my knees.

I never really thought that I would find myself here, in the capitol, together with 23 other tributes.  
>I knew that it was the purpose of my life, but I never <em>really <em>thought I would be here.  
>And I don't really want to die; I just know I have to. It all just seems so worthless, so meaningless. And why can't I stop asking myself all of these unnecessary questions? I made my choice, I brought myself here, and then why is it such a surprise when it starts to sink in?<br>I feel disgusted, disgusted with the thought that I will most likely kill a few of those kids that I met today. And I'm way too curious for my own good; I need to stop thinking about her, about _Katniss._

Oh boy, now I'm here again, thinking about those plump lips, those blue eyes, that dark hair.  
>It just isn't fair, I've never been obsessed with anything, If Cato won't be my death, I think she might be.<p>

Feeling sleep invading my thoughts, I lie down for the second time in my new bed and close my eyes, drifting off onto a blissful dreamland that doesn't consist of sponsors or games.

_We spent about 2 weeks training each and every single day, Cato had convinced district one to become allies with us, and Katniss seemed as determined as ever. We haven't shared a single word since the first day of training; it would surprise me if she even knew my name, but the looks she gives me. It looks as if she is equally curious about me, but then again, this is a place where your mind becomes slightly torn, I might be imagining things._

_**Tomorrow we will all be evaluated, at the game maker's assessment.**_


	4. Game maker's assessment

**Authors note: Hello everybody, I just wanted to thank you guys for the Reviews, Alerts, And Favorites. I'm really sorry about the fact that the last chapter took a really long time to show up.  
>However, here's the new chapter, hope you enjoy it. And in case you do, why don't you write a review and make me the happiest person in the world?<strong>

**Disclaimer: I do not own the hunger games, or the characters/books/films blablabla etc. mentioned in this fan fiction. But if I did.. Hot damn.  
><strong>

* * *

><p>This morning Cato threw an apple on me instead of yelling at me to get me up.<p>

"I won't let you eat fat people's food today. So get up, we're going down to see Phelix. Eat that on the way"  
>My body felt like marshmallows, it was screaming that it just needed one more hour of sleep. The bed just seemed like some kind of paradise. With a frown on my face I ejected from under the silky covers to be met with the sight of Cato, grinning like he always did.<p>

"You look like a piece of shit." He chuckled, shaking his head in disapproval.  
>"Shut up, you're not very respectful of women you know." I shook my head and moved to the edge of the bed, grabbing the apple on the way.<br>"Correction; I'm not respectful of anyone." He shot me his trademark smirk before turning around and walking out the doorway, leaving me with a familiar kind of anger boiling inside of me.  
>I exhaled heavily, rising from the bed and throwing the covers to the side.<p>

"Piece of shit, huh?" I started walking against the doorway, my legs limp.  
>"Start eating." Cato said, not even giving me look as he turned off the television that always seemed to be displaying bits and pieces from earlier hunger games, and the opening ceremony.<br>After taking a big bite out of the apple I replied him "Tonight they'll have some new material to work with. I'm getting sick of seeing the same things over and over again"  
>"Tell me about it. Maybe they'll forget about district 12 now that we can truly show ourselves. I mean come on; they'll be dead within the first minute." I snapped up my eyes to Cato, and was met with a soft gaze in his eyes. This was the first time he had sounded just a tiny bit nice, in some sick, twisted way. He actually said that as if he counted on me, that he wanted us both to make it. Maybe it was just cold feet, but he was seriously not acting like he usually did.<p>

"Uh, yeah. Okay." I just stared at him, and I could see his posture shatter for a second.  
>"Whatever, let's go." He shrugged his shoulders before turning on his heels, taking rushed steps against the door, and I tried my best not to run when I followed him, even though it was kind of hard because it seemed as if he was trying to run away from me.<p>

When we met Phelix, he told us that we should just try and keep cool, that we needed to keep a straight face and act kind, yet strong. And as he said so, I couldn't help but chuckle. Everybody else was going for that image, that's just so obvious. Our mentor came and gave us a quick "Good luck" and then went back to the bar or something, we never really saw him that much. Cato entered the room where we would be evaluated before me, and soon he came back out, telling me that it went good, and that I needed to keep up or he would leave me to die in the woods later on.  
>Cato had turned back to his terrifying self, and I hated to admit it, but I was genuinely scared of that blonde monster of a boy.<p>

When they called my name, my throat instantly felt like it was covered in some slimy goo, and I had a hard time to breathe. I cleared my throat, took a deep breath, and plastered a steady mask over my face. They could not see me nervous; I knew I was good at this. It wasn't that I thought I would fail, I just hated the thought of being _evaluated _by a bunch of creeps like them.  
>When I entered the room the loud chattering stopped instantly, and I could see their eyes draw my way instantly. I guess Cato made quite the impression, and I am from district 2 after all. It is no wonder they expect great things from me, I should've been prepared for this.<p>

"Hello Clove, we've been hearing that you're very skilled with knifes. Do you care to show us?" A voice came from a man we all knew as Seneca Crane and penetrated the silence.

"With pleasure" I gave him a smug smirk, and approached the board that held a wide selection of knives. I tracked the blade of a medium sized, metal knife that shined as if it had been polished for weeks. There was about five more of the same kind, and I grabbed them all, thinking that I would try and make some kind of a multi shot. As I turned around to see three dummies playing targets a large distance away from me, I instantly knew something that definitely was going to please them. And so I put some of the knives in my belt, and drew back both of my hands, equipped with a knife in both. I took a short moment to aim before I made turns with my hands in throwing all the knives at the targets, making me free in less than three seconds. Satisfied with hitting every bulls eye, I heard all of the spectators behind me chatter in excitement and satisfaction.  
>I made the most I could of the time, trying to make myself seem as ruthless as I possibly could, and when I left the room I actually felt a sick kind of pride in my work. For a second I felt disgusted, thinking that all these shallow charades and games were getting to me. I quickly shrugged it off, trying desperately to reassure myself that it was going to be fine, that I was still human.<p>

"Hey, don't tell me you blew it. It looks like you're about to hurl."  
>"Shut your face, dipshit. I'm astonished by how brilliant I truly am, I'll beat your score no doubt in that." I snapped in his face that now was whiter than a ghost. That silky white color didn't last for long, because in a second his face was regaining its redness, and I swear I could almost see how his head exploded with all the blood that rushed to it.<br>"You know what, I'm sick of this. You're just a little kid, don't come here telling me off like you're so much better than me." He shook his head, obviously frustrated.  
>"I'm trying my best or whatever to be there for you, we need each other in there. Stop telling me off"<br>Great. So, he's trying to be _nice._ He's a fucking hypocrite, that's what he is. I couldn't help but to feel defeat when he told me that we needed each other in the games, because it was true, and I knew it.  
>"I will, if you try stop being such a jerk all the time. I'll see you later." I shook my head as I walked by him and rushed to the elevator, I needed to relax. Blow some steam off.<p>

* * *

><p>When I arrived at the training grounds there was no one there, and frankly I'm glad that I was allowed to be alone.<p>

I waltzed over to the dummies that were used for training swordsmanship, and picked a small knife from the board. The knife was light, and had a grip made completely out of steel. Before I could even think twice my body had launched itself against one of the dummies, and I could see my right hand thrust and stab the dummy over and over again. It felt like I was exploding, all the disgust, the frustration, the anger, the sorrow, the regret, it all just exploded inside me, in my muscles, under my skin. I wanted it to stop; I wanted it all to go away. I wanted all of this to just have been a bad dream, I wanted to wake up and find myself in the old room that I had always lived in, that was filled with the scent of vanilla. But to my despair, I knew that this was not a bad dream that would just go away.

"What are you doing?" That smoke filled yet soft voice emerged once again from behind me, and made my whole body go numb. In an instant all those frantic, unwanted feelings were gone and replaced by _her_.  
>I slowly turned around to be met with a pair of blue eyes, and I saw something in them. I can't put my finger on it. Pity? Fear? No, it was something else, something that I had never seen nor felt before.<p>

"I had a rough evaluation." I simply lied, loosing myself in those two bright orbs staring back at me.  
>"No, you didn't. You're very talented." She said, slowly. Almost as if every word was made to torture me. And for a second I thought that she could see right through me, see into me and beyond that hard earned façade I've made.<br>"I fought with Cato." I heard myself say. I felt stupid, really stupid. It was the second time she talked to me, the first time we had a real conversation and I'm already telling the truth. And that was something that never before had happened. Come to think of my whole life was a big ball of disgusting lies.  
>"Do you want to talk about it?" She said in a way that words cannot explain, if I had to try and describe the feeling, think about how it would feel to be a cripple.<br>"Don't you have to see the game maker's just like everybody else?"  
>"I'm the last one up." She snapped back, not breaking eye contact for even a split second.<p>

There she was, once again. The girl on fire, Katniss. And all I could do was to make a complete ass out of myself; I knew I wanted her, that I wanted to know all about her.  
>Then why was it so hard to just talk to her? Maybe it was because my mouth was as dry as the Sahara desert.<p>

"Why did you fight with him?" She took a step forward, not letting my eyes go. It was as if she held them hostage; there was no way she was letting them go.

"He's just an ass." I needed to stop this, first of all; she's making me talk. Second of all; I'm talking all cryptic and weird and schoolgirl fantasy.  
>"Well, did he turn into an ass today or were you just fed up with it?" She took another step forward, if she took another she would be within my comfort zone, and a very disturbing feeling is telling me I wouldn't be capable to reject her.<br>"He's actually trying to be nice; the problem is that he's doing a very bad job." Good job Clove, you actually managed to speak a complete sentence.

"I'm sorry to hear that." She stood still for a couple of seconds, and then I saw how the corner of her lips started twitching. Soon she had a very small, discreet smile playing across those very plump lips that seemed to belong to some kind of goddess. Maybe she was a goddess?  
>"Have you ever been hugged?" The question shot like lighting through me, making my heart ache. I thought about it for a second, and I really tried to remember if I had ever been hugged. The answer was bizarre, surreal. Everybody needs to have hugged someone at least one time, but somehow I couldn't remember a single time. It was always a pat on the back.<p>

"No." I heard my voice crack, and shit it hurt. This had to be a dream, because something like this just does not happen. I saw how she took another step, and now our faces was way too close for me to be comfortable about, but just as I had expected I couldn't even take my eyes of hers for a second to try and tell her that.  
>"Do you want to?" As soon as I heard it, it spread like wildfire within me. I could feel the words, the warmth spreading through my veins, pulsating from within, filling every muscle with an unfamiliar buzz. I couldn't respond, and so she just stood there, staring right into me.<p>

"Haymitch is the only person that has hugged me since I got here, and he smells like booze all the time." Her eyes twinkled as she looked down on me, the height difference was just ridiculous.  
>"If you don't mind." This time I wanted to stomp myself on the foot, I would if it hadn't looked so very not appropriate for this situation. What was appropriate for this situation? What kind of situation is this?<p>

My rant of wicked thoughts was interrupted as a pair of strong, smooth, and gentle arms folded around my waist and pulled me forward. Before I knew it, I was buried in a dark mess of sugary sweet smelling hair. Every bit of skin that she was touching felt as if it was on fire, I could feel her fingers, the shape of her biceps, how soft her abdomen was against me. The following moments was viewed in slow motion. When I finally let my own arms fall around her neck, my mind was not in its usual state. I was breathing sugar, feeling like marshmallows, and thinking pink clouds. It lasted for a very long time, this state of intoxication.

"You smell so much better than Haymitch." Was the sentence that broke me out of this intoxicated state of mind. I dropped my arms from around her neck, letting them fall to my sides as she let go of my waist and took a step back. What I saw was the real twist of this whole situation. The girl in front of me actually had a bit rosy cheeks, almost as if she was blushing.  
>"I'm so sorry about this. You just looked so lonely and frustrated and I couldn't help myself." She apologized.<br>I didn't understand why she was apologizing; it had been all kinds of amazing to hug someone. Maybe she just didn't want to be hugging me, or something like that.  
>"I've got to go." She excused herself, twirling around in place before walking against the exit of the training grounds. The last I saw of her was a haven of dark hair swirling around a corner as she left.<p>

The rest of the day I had spent in my room, cussing on and about the very confusing situation I had earlier with Katniss, until Cato showed up at the doorstep of my room.

"Do you want to watch the evaluations? I've got you bacon." He had that same human kind of look on his face he had this morning, and so I accepted and followed him out to the living room where a big screen was just about to start showing the results. Part of it was because of curiosity, but mostly just because of the bacon. They showed district one first, then it was our turn. Cato got a ten, which he seemed very pleased about; he actually ate a bacon strip as a reward to himself. When it was my turn, I couldn't help but to put the plate down for a second, just to make sure I wouldn't die if I started coughing.  
>"District 2, Clove. 10 points." A very unexpected giggle erupted from my throat and Cato actually congratulated me on making a good score. 9 districts and many bacon strips later I was finally paying attention again.<p>

"District 12, Peeta. 8 points." The screen told us.  
>"Oh, he's going down hard." I heard that dark voice chuckle from beside me.<br>The screen showed a picture of Katniss, and everything instantly grew slower again.

"District 12, Katniss. 11 points." I just couldn't seem to find air. My ears were buzzing again.

"What! 11 points!" I heard Cato yell, and as I felt the weight change on the sofa I knew he had probably flied of his stuck up ass in anger to yell some more.

I don't think he ever noticed, but I just left the room to go lay in my bed once again. Praying to a god I didn't believe in. It took another hour or so for sleep to finally invade my twisted mind that had been trying to work through all that is Katniss.

It didn't work, she was inside of me, running through my veins.


	5. Honeysoda

**Thank you guys so much for the reviews, alerts and favorites. Reading what you guys write just makes me want to write right away.  
>This took a while to write, and I'm not really happy about how it came out, but i hope you'll enjoy it anyway.<br>Review if you enjoyed it, and remember: Cloveniss is on.  
>Edited. **

* * *

><p><em>I felt the scratching of her fingernails against the small of my back, and I exhaled deeply as I arched my back. The sweet scent was once again infecting every single vein and thought that coursed through my body. She exhaled into my ear, making me shiver in excitement.<em>

_"You're really pretty." She whispered under her breath, moving her abdomen even closer to mine. My heart was racing, my muscles were aching, and the soft touch of her skin that enveloped my body was making me nuts. I loved the feeling of inhaling that sweet scent from her dark hair, keeping her beside me, feeling her warmth under my sheets._

"Get up" I heard a dark voice say, and I instantly felt how something small and round hit my body through the sheets. I stirred up and tried to focus on the room, but all I could see was a whole lot of sunlight and a big shape with a blonde bit of hair.  
>"No bacon this morning, I'll treat you if you behave well tonight" Cato's voice told me, and I saw in my blurry vision how he retreated out of the room.<br>Running a hand through my own dark hair I saw the apple that was lying in my lap. With a grunt I picked it up and took a big bite before looking out the big window to my side. I had dreamt about her; a very disturbing dream. None of this made sense; I had never had the urge to be close to anyone. Now I was dreaming blurry dreams of skin and nails and sweet vanilla whipped sugar scents.  
>If I had to be completely honest whit myself, I'm not sure I wanted to stop either. The feeling I got around her was amazing, and the hug we shared was more than amazing. It felt too amazing for my body to handle, it was something that I liked and wanted to do over and over again. Like a drug, once you get a taste of heaven you don't ever want to let it go. Did I just call her heaven? It doesn't matter; she's a goddess or something anyways.<br>"Clove! Are you getting up today or what!" I heard Cato's stern voice emerge from the living room, and I quickly made my way out of the bed to go find the source.  
>"I'm up." I replied as I found him turning off the screen once again, like he always did when we had to go out.<br>"Phelix is waiting, we have the interviews tonight and he says that it's the main event of our time in the capitol." He said, not even giving me a glance as he started walking against the front door.  
>I followed him the best I could, but keeping up with those large steps without running was a very hard task.<p>

* * *

><p>"Clove! Cato!" Phelix exclaimed as we arrived at the remake center, waving his small pale hands in excitement.<br>"We have so much to do, better get going right away" He took a light grip around my shoulder.  
>"Why don't you go see Yves and Sia, they're just down the hall." His small twinkling eyes was the last thing I saw as he shoved me off into the right direction and I was left alone to find those cotton candy twinsters. It didn't take long, and before I knew it they we were all over me, scrubbing my feet, making nails, waxing my legs. When they were done with all the basics Sia was going to do my hair once again. This time she really took her time, and I could see her chewing her lip on concentration.<br>"Clove!" I heard that same high pitch voice that I knew belonged to Phelix emerge from behind me, and I met his eyes in the mirror.  
>"Look at this dress!" He held up a very beautiful peach colored dress and wiggled it back and forth, I couldn't help but to giggle at his adorable antics.<br>"It's amazing Phelix. Is that what I'll be wearing tonight?"  
>"Oh yes, of course. This'll look so good on you I might have to eat you. Everybody is going to love it!" I could hear the joy drip like sweet honey from his voice, and another giggle escaped my throat.<p>

"I'll leave it here; try it on when the hair is done." He hung the dress beside the mirror and waved goodbye before leaving me and Sia once again.  
>"It's a really beautiful dress, and the hair will go really well with it." Sia spoke. I almost jumped out of my seat, as this was the first time she had spoken to me at all. I just smiled at her and kept on staring at her through the mirror.<br>Another hour later she was done with the hair, and let me alone to change into the dress.  
>As I approached the peachy piece of fabric the thought of Katniss entered my mind once again. I wondered what she would look like tonight, and If she would like the dress.<br>I stripped down to my underwear and grabbed my dress of the hanger, feeling the soft fabric for the first time. It felt like cotton candy, light as air.  
>I drew the dress up to my shoulders, and reached for the zipper on my back, but somehow I just couldn't reach it.<p>

"Do you want some help?" A burning sensation emerged and filled my whole body as the raspy voice infected my ears. I snapped around, holding an arm around my chest to keep the dress from falling.  
>"What are you doing here?" I whispered, searching those blue orbs for some kind of answer. A small, lopsided smile played on her lips as she approached me slowly.<br>"I think I got lost." She stated simply. "I was going for my dress but I got the wrong room, and you looked like you needed help." I saw her eyes drift down towards my chest, and the grip of my dress got tighter as I instantly felt very embarrassed. In defeat I turned around so that she could zip my dress closed.  
>With the touch of her fingernails against the small of my back I instantly felt my legs go weak, and my muscles to go numb. I heard the sound of the zipper moving up my back, but it moved painfully slow. I didn't know if it was all in my head or if she tortured me on purpose. What if she knew about that tingling that more and more often took place in the pit of my stomach, what if she knew what kind of effect she had on me?<br>"You look beautiful. You're really pretty." Her voice was closer to me than I had expected, she must have moved closer to me without me noticing. I slowly turned around after she was done, and was met with that same kind of eyes I saw yesterday, those that held something I could not explain or understand. They seemed a bit darker than usual, and I swear I could lose myself in them for ages.  
>"The dress is great. Good luck tonight." She gave me a smile before biting her lower lip in a way that looked delicious, I would eat those lips if I could, lucky her that could bite them all day if she wanted to. She excused herself and left me and that strange feeling alone in the room once again. Why was I never the one to walk away?<p>

* * *

><p>"Darling, you look magnificent. I must say that I am a genius, just look at you!" Phelix exclaimed when I met him for dinner. We were dining at our flat together with Caine, - our mentor – and Cato.<br>"Yeah, all you have to do now is act as pretty as that dress makes you. It's the only way to get sponsors." Caine muffled under a piece of meat that was too big for his mouth.  
>Phelix shot him a glare before turning to me again.<br>"Don't worry, you'll do great. You're as sweet as a peach."  
>"You've got to be kidding me, right?" Cato chuckled after swallowing a bit of chicken breast. I shot him a similar glare that Phelix just had given Caine, and he stared right back at me. Then he turned to Phelix.<br>"I guess you haven't seen her with a knife; even I get a bit of the chills. I mean, she turns into this ruthless ninja the second she holds a blade" Phelix shook his head before putting his knife and fork down on the table.  
>"It's not about that. I guess you haven't talked to this young lady, because the second she opens up that mouth of hers she's the most sweet and charming thing you'll ever see" This whole conversation seemed so out of place, it was like all these people saw a different me. I had so many parts to play that I had lost track of them.<br>"She has one of the foulest mouths I've ever heard, or at least coming from a girl."  
>"I'm done listening to this. Would you please just find the trust in me to believe that I can do this?" I shook my head as I stood up from my chair.<br>"I'm not a subject of discussion, I'm human." The way I said it felt so serious, it was almost as if I was trying to tell myself that it was that way. It was kind of hard to feel human in this kind of situation, so the second I said it, it felt as if I was lying. I left the three men which all expressed a different kind of reaction, I'm not even sure Caine was listening because he was still eating meat like an animal.  
>I decided to go down to the training grounds, I knew no one was going to be there at a time like this, and I really needed to cool down.<br>When I arrived, I sat down on a bench near the watering fountain, and let my eyes roam the room.  
>I was definitely alone, If Rue wasn't using her mad skills in hiding which I really didn't think she would at a time like this, because she was probably just as dressed up as the rest of us.<br>My fingernails were neatly polished and taken care of; they had worked on them for like an hour or so. I didn't really get the point of everything being perfect, I was soon going to be in the forest, killing some kid, or being killed by some kid. No, scratch that. The only persons that had the slightest chance of killing me were Cato, and Katniss. It hurt to think that way. The thought of being killed by her felt so horribly wrong, but at the same time I couldn't think of anyone else that I would rather want to be killing me.  
>All these thoughts were so sick. I was thinking about being killed, like it was nothing. But that's a part of the games, just when I started thinking about things worth living for, just when I find someone worth living for, I'm going into a big arena in which I was going to die. And all I could do was to accept it. I felt so very, very trapped.<br>"Darling, we need to get going, I'm sorry about earlier but we really can't be late." I heard Phelix small and apologetic voice fill the void of the empty training grounds.  
>I turned around to meet the small man, and followed him without a word.<p>

* * *

><p>In line before the interview it was completely silent, no one was saying anything, all I could hear was the amused spectators, the boy from district one and Caesar Flickerman. A lump as big as a tennis ball was placed in my throat, and I had hard time breathing. As usual I was terrified, nervous of what to answer to all of Caesars questions. I turned around to see that Cato didn't seem nervous at all; in fact he had that very annoying smirk playing across his lips. My eyes drifted off to the end of the line, where I could see a pair of blue eyes staring back at me. How long had she been staring? I felt caught and snapped my head back as I heard Caesar thanking the boy for the interview.<br>"Now we are going to be meeting the girl from District two, Clove, come on up here!" That was my signal. I left the line and entered the stage, where I greeted the crowd with a convincing fake smile and a small wave. I sat down next to Caesar as the crowd quieted down.

"So, Clove. What a beautiful dress you're wearing." He smiled at me with kind eyes and gestured toward the light fabric covering my body.  
>"Thank you so much Caesar, I have to thank the prep team for that one, especially my stylist Phelix. To be honest I have the worst sense of fashion." I gave him the most innocent smile I could as he chuckled at the answer.<br>"And what about that Roman outfit I saw you wearing at the opening ceremony? Is there some kind of story behind it."  
>"Phelix thought it would be great to bring out the strength in me with such a strong outfit." I gave him another Innocent smile and looked out towards the spectators.<br>"Oh, so you're a strong girl?" He said after giving me another warm chuckle.  
>"Yes, I am very strong and I have to thank my parents for that one, they have helped me become the person I am today by training me and supporting me all my life."<br>"Oh, so your parents have been training you, is there any weapon you prefer from all these years of training?"  
>"My mom taught me how to use the knife when I was really small, and I grew attached to it. It's the most beautiful weapon there is to me."<br>"You seem like you have a really great family. Is there anyone else back home that is very special to you?" He wiggled his eyebrows a little and leaned closer to me.  
>"What do you mean?" I said the softest, most innocent voice I could. I knew exactly what he meant, I just hoped I didn't have to answer that question.<br>"Do you have anyone special? Like a boyfriend or girlfriend?" He wiggled his eyebrows a little bit more as he let out another chuckle and leant back into the chair.  
>"I'm really sorry to say that I haven't found anything like love, I want it to be like this kind of drug, that you just can't resist, but unfortunately I haven't found anyone that makes me feel that way yet." The same second I said those words, something clicked inside of me. It was just a simple line I had rehearsed a hundred of times before, but I had never really thought about the meaning those words held.<br>"Yet? You sound like you've already decided that this year's hunger games will be yours to win." He studied me in a more serious way this time.  
>"Oh yes, I'm going to make sure to win this. If I girl can dream, I hope that my victory will cause me to meet new people, and that I find love." I smiled at Caesar, and he replied me with a full-fledged smile, I could see all of his teeth. Or at least I thought I could.<br>"Well there you have it folks. The knife fanatic of District two, Clove!" I smiled at the cheering crowd and waved as I made my way down from the stage. I was greeted by Phelix, which was teary eyed and smiling. You looked so beautiful, and you were so open. Like a flower greeting the sun on."  
>I gave the tiny a smile before he threw himself at me and enclosed the space between us, folding his arms around me. This hug didn't feel like the one I had with Katniss at all, it was a hug that made me happy for sure, I had grown close to the petite man and whenever he acted in those adorable manners I always felt happy, but it was nowhere as intoxicating as the one I shared with Katniss.<br>When he released me I couldn't help but to smile at him.  
>"Thank you Phelix, you've been so good to me since I came here." I thanked him sincerely, and then left to proceed onto a room with green sofas everywhere and refreshments placed on small glass tables. The girl and the boy from district one was already sitting on a sofa at the left corner, chatting about their interviews while sipping from glasses filled with a golden, bubbling liquid substance. I didn't know what it was, but it looked delicious. From this room you could clearly hear what they were saying up on stage since there was speakers placed in the middle of the ceiling.<p>

I waited on one of the sofas as Cato had his interview, and as expected he talked like a serial killer machine, chuckling as he explained about his favorite way to slay something with a sword.  
>He didn't need to act, he was as exciting and ruthless as they could ever wish for by just being his sick, twisted self.<br>When he was done with his interview and had joined us in the room he quickly approached me, and sunk down beside me on the sofa.  
>"So you're all soft for love? I didn't know that." He chuckled and playfully punched me on the shoulder.<br>"Not really, I just gave them what they wanted." I couldn't help but to feel a slight bit of joy as he teased me, he was actually being kind in his own way.  
>"What about you, Mr. killer-machine?" I punched him back and gave him a lopsided smile.<br>"I can't help it. I love being brutal." He chuckled and shook his head before leaning over to the glass table placed in front of us.  
>"Do you want some Honeysoda?" He grabbed a glass and a big bottle filled with that golden beverage that looked so very delicious.<br>"What is it?" I asked him, feeling my mouth fill with saliva as he poured a glass of it.  
>"It's a liquid made out of honey and champagne." He gave me the glass and smiled before starting to pour himself another glass.<br>"Champagne? It's an alcoholic beverage?"  
>"It's not very strong, so we're allowed to drink it tonight. Come on, it's delicious, drink up. I'll go talk to Glimmer, okay?" He smiled before he stood up and left to sit with the blonde girl that seemed to have stolen his interest the last week. I raised the glass to my face, and took a sniff. It smelled sweet; it reminded me a bit of Katniss. Maybe they wanted make a beverage that was as sweet as her. I put the cold glass against my lip and let a bit of the silky, sizzling liquid fill my mouth. The feeling was amazing, I've never tasted anything as good as this. When the cold sensation ran down my throat it felt as if someone had poured a bit of heaven down my insides. The warmth that emerged from the sweet liquid was surreal, and made my insides tingle with satisfaction. A smile escaped my lips as I heard the door open and close from behind me, I couldn't care less. This was too good of an experience to let go of for even a second. I enjoyed every single bit of the beverage as I emptied the glass. When I was done another five districts were done, and the room was now filled with happy tributes sharing laughs, and drinking this heavenly beverage. I looked around, seeing that Cato and Glimmer had grown to sit a lot closer throughout the day. I couldn't help but to smile, he seemed more human than I've ever seen him before. I poured myself another glass, longing for that intoxicating liquid like it was the only good thing in this world. The boy from district eleven had just entered the room, and now I had put down the glass to try and hear what was going on at the stage, I knew Katniss was the next one up.<p>

"Next one up is the girl we all know as the girl on fire, District twelve's Katniss!"  
>I could hear the audience roar through the speakers, and a small smile crept its way upon my lips.<br>"Hello Caesar" Her voice was soft and Innocent.  
>"Hello Katniss. How are you today?"<br>"I'm very excited to be here, it feels great. How are you?" Caesar gave her a chuckle in response before continuing.  
>"I'm good, so let's cut to the chase. On the opening ceremony you were actually on fire, were the flames real?" Katniss let out a giggle.<br>"Yes, they were real, I got burns." The crowd laughed in response.  
>"I'm actually wearing them today, do you want to see?" Caesar chuckled in answer, and soon the crowd was roaring in excitement, she had probably shown them a beautiful display, to bad I couldn't see it.<br>"Wow, that was great! Moving on to the next question. I heard that you volunteered instead of a girl named Prim Everdeen. She was your little sister, correct?"  
>"That is true, she is my little sister." My heart felt as if it shattered into a million pieces, for some reason I could not explain in my current state.<br>"Ouch, tough decision. Do you think she's watching right now?"  
>"Yes, I believe that she's watching this right now together with my mother and Gale."<br>"Gale? Is that your boyfriend?" Katniss chuckled, and I thought I was going to break any second.  
>"No, he is not my boyfriend; he's just a very good friend of mine."<br>"Well, do you have someone special at home then?" Everything went quiet, I couldn't hear the other tributes in the room together with me, and everything went in slow motion once again.  
>"Just as Clove explained before I am sorry to say that I haven't found love. Love is supposed to be irresistible, and I'm not sure if I've experienced that kind of emotional attachment with anyone." My heart immediately felt a bit lighter.<br>"Well, I'm sad to hear that. Unfortunately, our time is up. Katniss, the girl on fire everyone!" The audience broke out in a chaos of sound, roars, cheers, whistles.

I instantly picked up my glass again, and put it up to my lips, letting the golden liquid fill my mouth and throat once again. My heart was racing; she was going to be here any minute. I had a comfortable buzz running through my being, probably because of the Honeysoda.

When I heard the door open and close behind me, I couldn't really breathe. Would she come sit with me? She had never approached me in public. My question was immediately answered as I felt the weight on the sofa change. I turned my head against her, and saw that she was already pouring a glass of soda herself. She brought it to her lips and took three big chugs, emptying the glass in one swing.  
>"Thirsty?" My voice felt weird, it felt like liquid itself.<br>"I thought I was going to explode, I was so nervous." Her voice was shaky, and beautifully honest.  
>"Oh, well. You did great." I told her as she poured another glass.<br>"This tastes like heaven." She responded before swinging another glass.  
>"Take it easy, there's alcohol in it."<br>"Why do you think I'm swinging glasses?" She chuckled and met my eyes for the first time since before the interviews.  
>"Was it really that bad?" I said, searching her blue eyes as they slowly turned a pitch darker.<br>She didn't answer me; she just stared back into my eyes. That feeling of further intoxication crept onto me as she held the gaze.  
>"Drink with me." She simply stated as she poured us both another glass. I nodded and took the glass from her and we both turned the glasses bottoms up. My brain froze, it felt like cotton candy and ice at the same time, and every single muscle in my body exploded with warmth.<br>"I think this is how you're supposed to drink it." I said under my breath as I exhaled, staring at the bottom of the empty glass.  
>"I second that" She giggled and turned to face me.<br>"I feel utterly, and completely, blown away. Do you feel that?" She smiled a lopsided grin and poured us another glass.  
>"It feels like I'm a big ball of tingle." I said, taking the glass from her once again. She giggled in response before we downed the liquid in our glasses once again.<br>"So, I never knew you were such a sucker for love?" She said, putting the glass down on the table and changing her seating so that she was facing me. In the background Caesar was talking to Peeta about his score on the evaluation.  
>"To be honest I've never thought about love before, I never had the time. I'm from district two you know." I mirrored her movements and turned to face her.<br>"Same here, but I had different reasons to turn away from things like affection." She looked down on her lap before roaming the room with her eyes, nobody was paying attention to us, I could see that as well. Everybody seemed just about as tingly as the both of us.  
>"What about Cato? You seemed pretty upset when you had your fight." She locked her eyes on mine again, and a serious expression was plastered across her face.<br>"Oh, dear god no. He's just hard to be around sometimes." I giggled at her suggestion and dismissed the question with a wave of my hand.  
>"Do you want another drink?" She said, obviously having a hard time finding another subject of discussion. I nodded in agreement and watched as she poured the both of another glass, almost emptying the bottle. I grabbed the glass and was just about to put it to my lips when she took hold of my wrist and lowered it. I looked at her, wondering what the heck she was doing. She just smiled and hooked her arm around mine, and pulled her glass towards her own mouth, this was something that drew me even closer to her in order to try and reach my glass so that we could down it together. The area of where our arms connected was burning, and the smell of her was now making its way inside of me. When we let go off each other my brain was all kinds of fuzzy, I didn't even notice Peeta before he was seated behind Katniss, downing a glass himself.<p>

"Oh hey!" Katniss exclaimed when she noticed him. "How did it go?"  
>"My god this is the best thing I've ever had." He exclaimed before turning towards us, eyeing me before responding Katniss.<br>"It went fine, but I couldn't help but to feel kind of nervous." Katniss looked at me, and I nodded in understanding.  
>"You were not alone." Katniss whispered as she snapped around to face Peeta, obviously a bit too tipsy. "But now I'm fine, this golden liquid sent from the gods and the good company saved me."<br>Peeta swung another glass, after opening another bottle of Honeysoda. He shook his head, and I knew what kind of exploding sensation his body and mind was experiencing. When he turned back to looking at the two of us, his eyes roamed me once again.  
>"Why are you not over with the blonde?" He gestured towards Cato that was giggling hysterically. "I thought you guys stuck together, right?" Katniss slapped him on the shoulder and gave him a very childish, very adorable pout that almost distracted me enough to forget about the question.<br>"He's intimidating, I'm harmless." I reassured him, and tilted my head to the side, trying to look as innocent as I could.  
>"She's really sweet, sweeter than this." Katniss exclaimed, and waved the empty bottle in front of Peeta. He just sighed before he gave her a small smile and nodded in defeat.<br>My thoughts were now running wild. She thought I was sweet? Sweeter than the very beverage she just couldn't get enough of? My thoughts was even harder to work out now than they usually did, why did I have to drink that much?

"Hello everybody" Caesar's voice made the room go quiet.  
>"As you probably have figured out, we thought we would make your last night as friends something special, since you're all going out in the games tomorrow. Your mentors will come get you all in a couple of hours, enjoy the evening and the refreshments as much as you can!" He smiled and chuckled before he left the room once again, that in an instant was filled with laughter and chatter.<p>

"Let's make the most of this." Peeta suggested, as he poured three glasses with golden beverage, I was just about to take one when he slapped my hand playfully. "These are mine" He said, giving me a goofy smirk before going for the first glass. Within 20 seconds they were all empty.  
>"Now I'm going to mingle, see you later." He said, obviously intoxicated by the sudden downing of alcohol. He left us alone on the sofa once again and went to sit by some red headed girl.<br>"Hey, can I ask you a question?" Katniss said, locking her dark eyes onto mine again. And even though I was numb all over my body, it didn't stop my heart from skipping a beat at the sudden direct contact.  
>"Why do you always act so weird? It's like you're about to jump out of your skin every time I talk to you." My head was about to explode, think of an answer, just anything.<br>"Because you smell like cotton candy, and your skin is on fire."_ Anything but that._

Her eyes went wide, and I think I swallowed my tongue. My insides turned into knots, and I suddenly couldn't breathe because of a very distinct lump in my throat. Blood was rushing to my head, and by the burning in my cheeks I guess I was blushing heavily.  
>"Are you serious?" She whispered, leaning closer and staring into my eyes like she's never done before. Even though there was 22 other tributes in the room, music playing, laughing and talking going on, and we both were intoxicated, I had never seen her so focused on something.<br>"You know that the fire was fake right?" she looked like she was about to fall over from leaning over to much, and I couldn't help but to giggle at her antics.  
>"I know, that wasn't what I meant." I shook my head and decided that it was a good idea to tell her what I really meant. It probably wasn't but I was going to anyway.<br>"Every time you touch me it feels as if that part of me is on fire." I shrugged my shoulders as if it was completely normal, she had to feel that way about a ton of people too, right?  
>A smug grin played across her lips and she leaned back again.<br>"Can I try something?" I nodded eagerly, my head felt as if it was a ping pong ball, bouncing up and down. She raised her hand up against my face, moved it behind my head, and rested it against the back of my neck. Instantly my skin was on fire, tingling and burning. I felt that she started moving her hand as my eyes fluttered shut. Her nails scratched against my skin and made their way to my jawline where she enveloped her fingers around my chin, lifting my head the slightest bit. When I opened my eyes I was met with a pair of blue, very dark ones close to my face, my breathing stopped, my heart skipped multiple beats, and that tingling sensation had now enveloped all me senses and all of my being.  
>"Relax, nobody's watching." She whispered through a small smile. I fluttered my eyes shut once again, and soon I felt a pair of warm, moist and soft lips against my cheek. If my cheeks weren't already burning with embarrassment, it sure as hell did now. The contact was short, but it was enough to make my whole body shiver. When my eyes opened again she was sitting cross legged in front of me, with a huge grin on her face.<br>"How was that?"  
>"I think I might be dreaming." I exclaimed, pinching myself in the arm. I couldn't feel it, so I had to be dreaming.<br>"I don't. By the way, you even taste better than the soda." I couldn't help but to get a full-fledged giggle-attack. I could barely keep myself sitting straight with all the giggling that erupted from my throat.  
>"So who do you think is the biggest threat in here except for me?" Katniss asked me after I had calmed down a bit. This led to multiple hours of talking about everything and nothing, and for the first time in my life I felt as if I had a real friend.<p>

_Later on Caine came to pick me and Cato up, and in the end he scolded us on drinking that much when we were under age. When I finally got to lay down in my own bed I couldn't help but to fall asleep, the warmth of the silky sheets that I had grown attached to soothed me into a comfortable state of relaxation. The last thing that entered my mind before I fell unconscious was the dark blue orbs that had been mine to stare at the whole evening._


	6. Bloodbath

"_I'll never hurt you." Her voice was weak, strained and filled with emotion, and the blue eyes that shifted between the two of mine were desperately trying to convince me.  
>"I can't live without you; I knew that I would die in here. So just make it quick" I put my blood covered hand on her shoulder, fighting to not let the tears break through.<br>"But I can't. I can't harm you." She closed her eyes and bit her bottom lip, obviously finding it difficult to not fall into tears like me.  
>"We knew that this would happen, Prim needs you. So please just end this." I begged her, feeling how my eyes started to water. A sob escaped her throat, and she shook her head.<br>"I'll always remember you." She trained her eyes on mine, letting a tear escape before I felt a terrible pain filling my chest. I knew that the knife I gave her was pushed into my chest. I gave her a faint smile before she threw herself into my arms, sending me off with a kiss to the cheek._

* * *

><p>"Are you having a bad dream?" Cato's voice stirred me out of sleep once again. When my eyes found focus on him I could see a sympathetic smile forcing itself upon his lips.<br>"Yeah, I think I'm nervous. You know?" I explained, drawing a hand through my hair that was sticking to my forehead because of the sweat that covered my whole body.  
>"We all are." He seemed human again. "But you know we'll make it, right? Let's just stick to the plan." I nodded and stood up, leaving my warm bed for the last time.<br>"Let's eat a whole lot of bacon. It might just be our last time." He gave me a lopsided smile and followed me out to the dining table where Phelix and Caine greeted us with sad, yet warm smiles.  
>"Are you nervous?" Phelix asked me after a few minutes of small talk.<br>"You have no idea. But I'm going to kill it." I gave him a faint smile, feeling a pang of disgust shoot through my being.  
>"Just take it easy alright, don't wear yourself out on the first day." Caine added and took a huge bite out of an apple.<br>The morning flowed on in silence, only a bit small talk now and then. None of us was really ready for this day.

* * *

><p>After getting injected with sensor, being clad in the outfit chosen for the games, and given many goodbyes I was standing in a small gray room, lit by spotlights together with Phelix.<br>"I made this for you." He approached me with a jacket, showing that the inside of it held many places for knifes in all shapes and sizes.  
>"Turn around." His voice stained with pain made me feel as if I was already going to die any second.<br>I did as he told me and soon I was enveloped in the dark cloth he had made me.  
>"I'm going to miss you, make sure to come visit me when you win this okay?" He gave me a lopsided smile after I had turned around, and soon his tiny arms were holding me tight.<br>"I promise" My arms found their way around the petite man, and I couldn't help but to think that he was like the father I never had.  
>When the embrace ended I could see that he was about to start crying, so I said my goodbyes and turned around, leaving him to take care of his sorrow on his own. There was nothing more I could do.<br>I stepped into the tube, and waited for the signal.

* * *

><p>This was it. The countdown had started; all the tributes were standing on their spots. Some looked terrified, some looked amused.<p>

"4" I looked to my side to see Cato in position to sprint any second now.  
>"3" My eyes found Katniss on the opposite side, her eyes trained on mine.<br>"2" I put myself into position.  
>"1" My heart skipped a beat.<p>

As the gunshot rang through the air my body started moving forward, I couldn't even think as my legs were moving at a rapid pace. I reached the Cornucopia first of all the tributes, and my hands found the grip of a small dagger. In a moment it was flying against the female tribute from District 7, and almost in slow-motion her petite body was falling against the ground. I didn't even have time to react before Cato was shoving two knifes in my hand.  
>"Go!" He threw his hand in a quick gesture towards the boy from district 9 that was fighting with someone over a backpack. I started running against him, extending my arm forward, sending one of the knives to hit the back of the young boys back, and he instantly fell to the ground. I threw myself against the person lying down, shoving the knife into the backpack as I straddled her. A pair of blue eyes appeared from behind the backpack, and my heart stopped. A pained scream emerged from behind me, and everywhere I could hear people being slayed by my ruthless allies.<br>"Hit me."  
>"What?" her terrified eyes trained onto mine was filled with betrayal.<br>"In the face." Soon a very distinct pain was exploding through my jaw as her fist made contact with my skin. I fell to the ground in agonizing pain when she made her way up and ran away.  
>The screams had stopped, and as I made it up into sitting position again, Cato was giving Glimmer a high-five. The plan had worked, if you overlook the fact that I willingly helped my top enemy escape.<br>"Hey, I thought you said you were going to kill her?" Cato chuckled when I joined the others by the Cornucopia. "Is district twelve a bit of a big task for you, do you think you can handle it?" He teased, shoving a pack of knives against my chest. "If you have these you might have a bigger chance."  
>I gave him a frown before sitting down cross-legged.<br>"What are we going to do now?" I heard Marvel say from inside the Cornucopia. As the others made plans I just sat down and listened, while I organized the knives into different holsters in my jacket.

* * *

><p>When night falls we all decide to go look for other tributes, wanting to end this game as soon as possible. Although, I do suspect Cato just enjoyed the taste of death. After a very long walk, we saw a light flowing out of a small cave deeper into the forest.<br>"Oh man, I hope it's someone fun." Cato's dark voice acted silently as he shivered in excitement. All I could feel was apathy. I felt empty, like someone had drained from all that is human. I had already killed 2 tributes, and now I had to watch another.  
>Just as we were about to approach the cave, several loud gunshots was heard, followed by the dead tributes faces lighting up the sky. That was when a blonde boy appeared from the cave, and as he observed the deceased, Cato made a run for it, throwing his whole being upon the boy, nailing him to the ground.<br>"Hey guys, It's District 12!" His dark, amused voice emerged and sent a heart wrenching sensation to take hold of my stomach. I followed my allies to where Cato was pinning the boy down, and when he saw my face I could see nothing else but betrayal and anger in his eyes.  
>"Where is the girl then? <em>The girl on fire<em>?" Cato teased.  
>"If you kill me, I won't be able to tell you." Peeta exclaimed<br>"I'm not really sure we need your help" Glimmer giggled, obviously mocking the boy.  
>"Oh, I think you do. Don't you remember she had a better score than all of you?" He said, sending Cato into a fury that made him hit Peeta in the face.<br>"Where is she?" Cato yelled into the face of the blonde boy that now was bleeding from his nose.  
>"If you let me be your ally, I could help you find her." He said in a strained voice, obviously experiencing a lot of pain.<br>"And how do we know you're not leading us into a trap?" Marvel added before Cato did something stupid.  
>"Then why don't you test me?" He said, returning his eyes to roam Cato's.<br>"Fine." Cato let go of Peeta and rose to his feet. Peeta met my eyes once again, and I never thought I could see a pair of eyes display such anger as his did. He reached his hand towards me, and when I took his to help him up I could almost feel him break a bone in my hand.  
>"Why don't we make her our first priority for now?" Cato suggested, and the rest of us agreed, I just nodded my head despite the fact that I never wanted or intended to harm her.<p>

* * *

><p>By the end of the night we had decided that seeing the boy from district 12 kill someone for us was enough to convince us that he was worth keeping alive. It seemed like a weak bargain to me, but with the knowledge that he could not possibly do us any harm, it was only to our advantage to keep him around. To be honest I didn't feel very fond of the boy, he seemed to have judged me before I could even defend myself, and he was annoyingly close to Katniss. Close enough to be able to track her. A few more hours of walking led us to a small caving near a small pond, and convinced by Peeta that Katniss had gone this way, we decided to sleep a couple of hours before continuing our hunt.<p>

The day had gone by in the blink of an eye; it just seemed so surreal, everything was just so sick. As sleep washed over me, I saw the face of the girl which life I had ended today. Pushing back my sobs I allowed slumber to take its hold of me.

* * *

><p><strong>I'm really sorry about the short chapter, and the lack of description. I'm not really happy about how this chapter came out, however I wanted to give you guys something as quickly as I could, in thanks for the reviews, favorites and Alerts.<br>I didn't know how to get them into the arena, so this chapter felt a bit rushed, and I hope you'll forgive me for rushing into thing, I'll make up for it.  
><strong>**I'll try and update again as soon as I possibly can, And the next chapter will be a lot better... I hope.**


	7. Changes

The next morning I woke up, greeted by the sun that was reflecting onto my face by the small pond. I put my hands up to my face, and rubbed my sleepy eyes, trying to wake myself up. I looked around, watching my allies sleep with calm faces, and for the first time since I got here I felt a small twinge of affection shower over me. They were after all counting on me, they wanted me. Cato made a small smacking noise before turning to lie on his side. I decided to try and find something to eat, and so I left the others as silently as I possibly could, watching carefully to not snap a branch under my weight. When I had left the small cave I was greeted by the peaceful singing of a couple of birds, Mockingjay's, to be precise. I couldn't help but to let out a smile, I've seen Katniss broche, and so the birds reminded me of her.

I pursed my lips, and started to whistle a small melody of 5 tones that mom used to whistle when she was cooking. The birds fell silent, and then repeated my melody. Another smile appeared on my lips and I continued my walk further into the woods. There were no paths to follow, but the terrain wasn't hard to get through, and before I knew it I was surrounded with small bushes. On the bushes there were small blue berries that to me looked highly edible, and very appetizing. I started picking them, whistling the same melody that to me was connected to food. After picking a handful, I grabbed one of the berries between my index finger and my thumb. My hand found its way to my face and just as I was about to put the berry into my mouth a stern voice ejected from behind me.

"I wouldn't eat that if I was you, unless you're planning to commit suicide." I couldn't help but to smile before I turned around to meet Katniss blue eyes.  
>"I'm not." I dropped the berries on the ground, giving her a lopsided smile as I raised my hands above my head, showing her that they were empty.<br>"Thank you" I said. I couldn't help but to feel relieved, having her here in front of me once again, without anyone here to... Oh shit. Cato. My smile vanished in an instant as I trained my eyes to the ground.  
>"They're looking for you, you know." I said, avoiding her blue eyes that I knew were staring at me.<br>"I know. And I don't expect you're going to give me away are you?" My head snapped up to her, and this time she was giving me a lopsided grin, almost teasing me. It was as if she knew how attached to her I was, and she wasn't afraid to use it against me. She had dimples, I had never seen them before.  
>"Given the fact that you saved me." She said while taking a step towards me. A small branch snapped under her feet, and I flinched at the sound. This situation reminded me a lot of the first time we really talked, when she gave me my very first hug.<br>A nervous smile escaped me once again, and her eyes reached my lips. No way I was getting away with this.

"You look like you're about to jump out of your skin again" She took another step.  
>"I thought we connected?" She said, tilting her head a bit to the side. It was obvious that she was teasing me, and I couldn't figure out the reason.<br>"Do you feel safe?" She took another step, and I increasingly felt less and less safe as she approached me further.  
>"What do you mean?" My eyes couldn't find a spot to stick to, and so they flickered between her feet, her eyes, and her lips.<br>"Do you feel safe with them? Cato, Peeta?" My heart felt as if it would burst any second, she knew that we had Peeta.  
>"I don't know." My voice was frantic and unstable. It felt as if every word got stuck in my throat as I could feel it get tighter. She took another step, and now we were in the same position as before, she was inside of my bubble, looking down on me with blue eyes that seemed as if they were a shade darker. The birds were singing, as if they knew what kind of turmoil my insides were in. They matched the chaos that was taking place within. Her eyes was even more beautiful than ever before, the dark dot expanding even though sun was beaming onto her face.<br>"You're really, really beautiful." Her voice rang through my ears, paralyzing my whole being.  
>"What?" My thoughts were once again racing. Why did she say that? When we're in the middle of the woods, in an arena where we're going to die, and she tells me I'm beautiful.<br>"We're in the arena, Why is that relevant?" I could hear my voice sounded harsh, but I was annoyed and frankly I didn't understand why she kept doing this to me.  
>"I needed to tell you something, and that was a good start." Her voice was soft, and I could tell my tone wasn't making any difference in her approach what so ever.<br>"Tell me, I have to get back soon."  
>"Do you?" I almost choked, I knew what she was suggesting.<br>"I like you, and I frankly can't stop thinking about you." Her voice sounded so sincere I could barely breathe.  
>"Truth be told, I don't want to be without you." Her eyes flickered down for a second, and soon I felt the warmth of her skin against mine, her fingers smoothing themselves out over mine as she took a light grip around my hand. A shiver ran through me<br>"Come with me?" Her voice was small, almost like a whisper, and her eyes looked pleading.  
>"What about Peeta?" My voice shattered mid-sentence and I pushed my eyes shut in pain.<br>"It doesn't matter right now" Her grip around my hand tightened, forcing my eyes to open once again. I was met with those eyes once again, and I knew in that instant that If I was going to die, I wanted to die fighting for her.  
>"Okay." My voice was small; I could barely hear it myself. But when her eyes instantly turned softer I knew that she had heard me. The second after I was buried into dark hair once again, enveloped by that sweet scent that I had grown attached to. Her arms found their grip around my shoulders, clinging onto me like I was the last person in the world. The warmth of her neck pressed against my cheek made me shiver, and her abdomen pressed against mine made me feel euphoric.<br>"Thank you." For the first time ever her voice sounded vulnerable. My hands found their way to her waist, and I could feel her toned muscles through the thin layer of  
>fabric.<p>

"So where do we go from here?" I said as she ended the embrace, letting my shoulders go. Not wanting to let go my hands slowly left her waist.  
>"Since they're looking for me, and soon will be looking for you, I suggest that we keep on walking. Find somewhere to stay, and that we build up strength. I'm pretty sure Peeta will wear them out quite a bit, and by the time they find us we have a better chance of beating them." I got the feeling that Katniss had already thought this through, maybe Marvel was right. They had set up a trap after all.<br>"Actually, I've been staying the night with the others at this little cave near a pond." I replied, and nervously put my hands in my pockets. I had never been very good at strategy, and frankly I didn't know why I was even trying to help, I always screwed things up in the end anyways.  
>"Maybe we could stay there when the others leave." I shrugged my shoulders.<br>Katniss seemed to ponder over the suggestion for a while before speaking. "Okay" She simply said, before giving me a small smile.  
>"Let's go then." I nodded in response before I felt a very distinct lump form in my stomach, the second after a loud rumble emerged from within me.<br>I looked down for a second, before shooting my gaze up at Katniss once again. I felt blood rush to my head and I once again knew that I was blushing.  
>"Right, you were looking for food." She said, tilting her head to the side.<br>"Should we go back to the pond, see if they're still there? Chances are we could gather some fish there." Katniss said, shooting me a reassuring smile. I nodded in response before turning around to start walking.

* * *

><p>We had been walking for about five minutes when I stopped in my tracks, putting my hand out to the side as if to tell Katniss to stay back.<br>We were hiding behind a big bush, from where we had a clear view of the cave and the Pond. I could see Cato, Marvel, Glimmer and Peeta discussing, and soon Cato's voice were loud and clear for us to hear.  
>"Clove! Where are you?" He cupped his mouth and then looked around, obviously not seeing me and Katniss behind the bush. My throat was dry. I kind of felt sorry for nut running to him, but I knew that I wanted to stay here, by Katniss. I saw how he turned to Marvel who apparently had said something; soon he was falling to the ground, cupping his jaw. Cato had given him a hard punch; I could tell from here that I would probably cry from the pain.<br>"She's coming back, okay? She wouldn't leave me!" Cato was screaming against Marvel that still was wriggling on the ground. Peeta said something to Cato, and in response he got a glare from Glimmer. Cato just nodded, and picked up his sword from the ground.  
>Glimmer helped Marvel up, and soon they were walking away from the area.<br>The lump in my throat didn't disappear, but when the coast was clear I followed Katniss to the Cave.

"This is actually a nice place to stay. We could make it here for quite a while." Katniss pondered, sliding her hand against the walls of the cave.  
>"That depends on if there is any fish here." I added, training my eyes on the back of her head.<br>She turned around and met my gaze before opening her mouth.  
>" Let's go check it out then, shall we?" She gave me a wink before walking by me and out of the cave.<br>I followed her, almost slipping on a wet rock.  
>"Take it easy" Katniss chuckled as she grabbed my hand, keeping me from falling to the ground.<br>I just gave her a small smile, feeling the embarrassment boiling within before following her out to the pond. We sat down next to the edge, and soon I could see some small golden fishes swim near the surface.

"How are we going to catch them?" I said, letting my eyes slide to my side where Katniss were sitting.  
>"If I shoot them with my bow we could easily end up bursting their gall bladder, and that ruins the meat, makes it poisonous. So I suggest you try to hit them with one of your knives." She stood up, and started taking off her jacket, throwing it to the ground.<br>"What are you doing?" I asked, as she started taking off her shoes. My eyes felt as if they were going to fall out their sockets any second, but she just kept on staring at the pond.  
>"If you catch them, I'll go retrieve them." She stated simply, before taking her top off. I gasped at the sight. My eyes couldn't leave her, those toned abs, her collar-bones, that dark hair. I don't even think she noticed, because she started unbuckling her pants the very next second. I swallowed a dry gulp and shook my head to try and get a hold of myself. I stood up and retrieved a small knife from a holster in my jacket. Taking it by the blade, I aimed at one particularly big fish, and extended my arm forward. The surface was shattered and by the big splash left by the fish, I realized I hadn't missed it.<br>I did the very same thing 5 more times, before Katniss jumped into the water. The water barely made a ripple as her body hit the surface. She had gone in graciously, and a few seconds later her head was above water again. I couldn't help but to smile, she looked very comfortable as she went around in the water, retrieving fish that now had risen to the surface.

"You have to get in, it feels so good!" She exclaimed after reaching land once again. I couldn't help but to stare, because her body was covered in small prickles of water, and she was panting so her chest was heaving up and down. She looked absolutely gorgeous.  
>"I don't know" I said. All the bacon I had been eating the past weeks had not made me feel that good about my body, and after seeing her all my self-confidence flew out the window. She was so… how do you say it? Oh, Perfect. I was nothing compared to her.<br>"Why not?" She replied after laying the fish down on her jacket.  
>"I just don't know." I said, almost excusing myself for the bad answer.<br>"Come on." She said, approaching me slowly, and soon I was standing very close to her undressed body. I couldn't even answer, I was speechless.  
>Before I could react I was under the surface, feeling the warm water surround me, getting inside of my clothes. When I made it up to the surface again I was attacked by Katniss who jumped in after me. Her body pushed mine under surface again as she made contact. And soon I was watching her through the clear, blue water. She was above me, smiling at me. Her hair was everywhere, as if it was floating. She is a Goddess after all, I thought.<br>When we made it up once again we both started giggling. I know this really wasn't the time for it. Anybody could come kill us any second now, and we were making all these unnecessary noises.  
>However, at this point I really didn't care. I would die here, and I might as well make the most of the time I had left.<p>

* * *

><p>After making a fire, and hanging all my wet clothes to dry, Katniss had started cooking those golden fishes we had caught before. She had lent me her Jacket and top, so that I wouldn't catch a cold. That however seemed impossible, since this was one of the hottest days I had experienced in a while. Katniss wore nothing more than her boots, and her trousers. Of course she had underwear, but those toned muscles were all mine to gawk upon.<br>She didn't seem to mind, she didn't even seem to realize I was doing so. That didn't bother me at all, it meant I could shamelessly enjoy the eye candy on my own.  
>"Here you go" She said, giving me a fish that was attached to a wooden stick. I nodded and mumbled thanks before bringing the white flesh to my lips. It smelled delicious, I never thought fish cooked like this could ever smell good, or taste good. I was proved wrong as my teeth dug into the meat, and my tongue was enveloped in a salty, creamy taste. I couldn't help but to moan at the sensation, it felt so good to finally eat, and this fish must be a gift from the gods or something. Like Honeysoda. My mouth was filled with saliva at the thought of the sweet beverage, and I could almost taste the sizzling against my taste buds.<br>"Do you like it?" I hear Katniss say from beside me. I turned my head and was met with a pair of curious blue eyes.  
>"It's like the best thing I've ever had." I exclaimed, taking another bite from the white flesh.<br>Katniss giggled before she took a bite of her own, and soon I heard her moan as well. The sound of her moan brought my stomach into turmoil; it knotted together into a big ball of tickle.  
>"I second that" She said. I watched her as her lips parted to let a pink tongue guide its way out. She slowly licked around those plump lips, and I swear I could almost feel my stomach explode. Something was boiling within me. I wanted to lick those lips like she did, I wanted to touch her face, I wanted to be closer to her. I tried my best not to look at her while she was eating, and ate my share of the catch in silence.<p>

* * *

><p>"So what do we do now?" I said after finishing our meal, still filled with that annoying craving.<br>"We should probably rest a bit, and then we could go out. Your clothes should be dry by then, and we should probably gather something more to eat for dinner." Katniss answered. I turned my head to watch her, and when my eyes met here, her eyes were darker than I had ever seen them before.  
>"Is there something wrong?" I said, mesmerized by the expression plastered upon her face.<br>"No, it's just…" She stopped mid-sentence, and looked down to the ground.  
>"What?" I asked, feeling very confused by her antics.<br>She suddenly started crawling towards me on all four, and when she was standing with my legs between her knees, she looked up.  
>"I have this feeling." She said softly, almost whispering. My throat and mouth was instantly dry, and I could feel my heart beating against my ribcage.<br>"I don't think I can explain it, but it's like this craving." She continued. I swallowed dryly, and nodded.

Her hand found its way to my jawline, and soon her fingers had enveloped my chin like it had before. Her eyes were burning into mine, and I could almost feel my brain turn into some kind of jelly.  
>She lifted my chin a little, and leaned in to push her soft lips against mine. I couldn't think, I couldn't move, I could only feel. Feel her hand, feel her lips against mine. That soft buzzing that took place where she was touching me.<br>My hand found its way up to the back of her head, and so I deepened the kiss. I had never kissed anyone before, but I couldn't think about anyone else that I would rather share this with. Her scent once again infected my senses, and when she took my bottom lip between hers I couldn't stop a small moan from escaping my throat. Her other hand found its way up to my shoulder and soon enough I was being pushed to the hard ground.  
>I immediately missed the feeling of her lips upon mine, but it didn't last for long because the second after she was crashing into me once again. The kiss was hard, it was like some kind of release, it was frantic, it was rushed, but yet it was the best thing I had ever felt.<br>There were so many emotions intertwined in the kiss. It was like I could feel how she had been holding this in, and safe to say I didn't mind at all that she had released it. Her abdomen was pushed against mine, and soon I was also aware of that one of her legs had found its way between mine. When I felt the tip of her tongue slip over my bottom lip I quickly opened my mouth, granting her access. When our tongues connected I could feel something starting to build within me.  
>It went like a shock through me; it made me shiver down to the bone. I never wanted this to stop, I never wanted to leave this, leave her body, leave her lips, or that soft, moist tongue of hers that was now massaging my own. When the kiss ended it felt like something was taken from me. As my eyes opened once again I was met with a pair of crystal blue ones that was beaming at me with warmth. A beautiful smile played on her lips, and when she pushed a stray strand of hair from my face I couldn't help but to smile myself.<br>I wanted to say something, but the words never came out, so we just stayed like that. Her body upon mine, staring into each other, and I felt as if I was complete.

* * *

><p><strong>Hey everybody. Sorry about the late update, and I'm sad to say that it'll be the last in a while. I will probably not be able to update this coming week since I'm having a friend over at my house.<br>However, I will update as soon as i possibly can, i promise you.  
>I hope you enjoy this chapter, I know some of you were quite anxious about how their relationship progressed very slowly, and so it thought: Why the heck not?<br>Special greetings and thanks to Sparky.182. Your review made me very, very happy, and I was in your exact same position a couple of weeks ago. But then i decided to write this fanfiction, And finally get this ship going. Cloveniss is on, my friend.  
>Thank you all so very much for the Alerts, Reviews and Favorites, It makes my day. Really. <strong>

**If you enjoyed this chapter - why don't you tell me about it? ;)**


	8. Point of view

**Okay, so I'm really sorry I havn't updated properly, and I'm sorry this is such a short chapter, but I've been really busy, going to the hospital a lot and so on.**  
><strong>I wanted to thank all of the amazing people that write reviews and favoritealert this story, it gives me strength to continue. However, I am kind of stuck, and I would really like to hear some opinions on where to take it from here. Thank you all oce again, And I hope you enjoy this chapter, if only for a little bit.**

* * *

><p>"Let's see what was happening in the cave where our new alliance have been staying today shall we?" Caesar said, smiling as he always would, receiving a nod from his colleague. The screens behind them was showing bits and pieces of the fishing, and the meal.<br>"They're really working hard together, who thought that we would ever see that? The girl from district two and the girl from district twelve?" Caesar received another nod, and then the both of them kept silent as the screens were showing how Katniss had started crawling against Clove. A confused expression played upon the both commentators faces, as Katniss came closer and closer. Caesar almost choked when he gathered the mood the girls was in.  
>"Oh my." He let out under his breath as Katniss put her hand on Cloves neck.<br>Everything fell silent, and both of the men dropped their jaws to the floor as the girls connected their lips.  
>"I did not see that coming!" Caesar exclaimed after a few seconds, and a very nervous, confused expression was upon him. Anyone could see that he was not comfortable, and didn't know what to do. The game makers must've liked the idea, to stir everything up further.<p>

* * *

><p>"What do you think they're saying right now?" Her voice was soft, like a whisper but not really.<br>"What do you mean?" I didn't really know what she was talking about, everything was still spinning. Frankly I didn't really know if I was dreaming or not. I've dreamt about her before, so this could just be another dream. But the feeling that her lips had left on mine told me differently.  
>"In the Capitol? The game makers?" She said. She brought her hand to my face and put a strand of my hair from my face. The small contact from her fingers on my forehead was intoxicating. My mind was in complete turmoil, I couldn't let the fact that her body was laying against mine go.<br>"Oh." I licked my lips, still tasting hers. "I don't know. I think they might use this to stir things up. It's all a show you know." She just nodded and searched my eyes for a while, before laying her head down against my chest.

"Is this okay?" She said in a whisper once again, and baffled by her question I couldn't help but to chuckle.  
>"You have no idea how okay that is." I said as I moved my hand to rest on her back. I was nervous, but I felt comfortable around her. I wasn't afraid anymore, I knew I liked her. I wanted to be with her. I wanted to kiss her again, and again, and again. And frankly I couldn't hold it anymore. She broke the small wall between us, and now there was no going back. I <em>needed<em> to have her.  
>"Were you poor?" I heard my own voice ask, It just slipped out, I couldn't help it. Her body tensed against mine for a split second, before she relaxed again.<br>"Yes, but we made it work." She stated. Her voice was steady, honest. I wanted to know more, so I just decided to keep talking.  
>"How is it, to live in district 12 I mean?" I started making small circles with my index finger around her shoulders<br>"It's tough. There are many people that die every day on the street from hunger and such. Of course there is a wealthier part of our district, but I mostly spend my time in the seam or in the woods." She replied, taking a small pause before continuing.  
>"A lot of people don't have any other option than working in the mines to get by, I'm lucky that my father made me learn to hunt. It's still just barely that we got by though. Everything is dirty, there are no real showers, and we could live a week on a loaf of bread, but that's just the way it is."<br>My heart broke a little. I couldn't even imagine how it must've been to live like that. I couldn't think of anything to say. I just knew that I had to make sure she won, so that she would never ever let her or her family live like that again. When did I become so emotional?  
>"That's horrible. I can't even imagine it." I said in a small voice, and I tried my best to think of something to make up for it, but nothing I could say would make a difference.<br>"I don't think I want to know how it is in district 2, but could you at least tell me how it's like at your home? How's your family?" She tugged at my top a little, grasping it once again with those slender fingers.  
>"I haven't really thought about it." I pondered. "They're my family and all, but I don't think I ever really loved them or anything." Her head shot up from my chest and her eyes trained onto mine with a confused expression. I immediately felt like I had to try and explain.<br>"They feed me, and mom used to play with me before I was able to start training. But they've never hugged me, or talked about what I might like. They just trained me, and told me that I needed to get better if I was going to make them proud. I never learned to love anything." Katniss eyes flickered between the both of mine before she responded.  
>"You must've loved something?" her voice was pleading.<br>"Well, I never had any friends, I never fell in love with someone, I never did anything else than train." I thought about it for a second. "I love to act." I closed my eyes to not see her response. It was a silly thing to love.  
>"That's horrible." My breath hitched. "But I'm glad you found something that made you happy." Her voice sounded so sincere, it was determined, yet soft. I opened my eyes again, and was met with a dorky smile and two blue eyes. I couldn't help but to chuckle at that adorable smile.<br>"You make me happy." I heard myself say. My eyes widened and so did hers.  
>Then she started laughing. She had such a heartwarming laugh, the sound made me feel tingly in every part of my being. "Do you always speak before you think?" She returned into sitting position and I immediately missed the warmth of her body against mine. I sat up as well and opened my mouth to try and explain when her lips suddenly enveloped mine again. This time it was soft, so light against my lips. It ended quickly, and behind shut eyes I could hear her say "You make me happy too." I opened my eyes, and there she was, with messy hair, no shirt, and a small smile upon her lips.<br>I wanted to touch her skin, which always seemed to be warm. That always made me buzz with a comfortable feeling, that made me want to live for the first time in my life.  
>"I think my clothes are dry now, I'll be back soon." I said, and when I was about to stand up, I couldn't help but to let my hand envelope her cheek for a second before leaving her.<br>I walked over to the clothes and quickly changed, and to my satisfaction they were dry and kind of warm because of the sun that had been shining all day. A few Mockingjay's were singing nearby, and so I sung the same melody I did before. They all responded, and I felt as if maybe this would all die out, we could live here forever, they wouldn't kill us. I shrugged my shoulders and returned to Katniss, giving her the jacket and the top back, she swiftly put them on and I immediately thought that maybe I should've hid them or something, I missed the sight of her toned stomach.  
>"I'm a bit tired, come here." Her voice was dorky, kind of teasing. As I sat down beside her, she enveloped me into her arms and laid us both down. She was as warm as ever, and my worn out body drifted onto sleep in an instant.<p>

* * *

><p><strong>Katniss PoV<strong>

Small hands were placed on the small of my back, and a floral kind of smell infected me nose as I took a deep breath. The past few weeks I had not been able to take my mind of the small girl sleeping against my chest. Clove was all kinds of amazing, beautiful, humble, charming, adorable, and attractive. Those dark eyes that seemed to shift color every day, the freckles on her face, the cooling sensation of her skin against mine made me go crazy. It felt as if I was trapped, stuck on her. I tried my best to push it away at first, but after a while I couldn't see the point of it anymore. My body was screaming after her touch, my ears were pleading to hear that husky voice, and after I while I realized I was hopelessly devoted to her. I knew that this would end in tragedy, but I some part of me kept pushing that away, all I wanted was her. I watched as she crinkled her nose in her sleep, making a the small moan. A smile crept upon my lips, she was adorable. I wanted to know what she was dreaming. Her tiny hands gripped tighter around me, and a familiar swelling in my chest reappeared.  
>My hands found their way to her jawline, and the tip of my fingers made contact with her incredibly soft skin. I trembled a little, I didn't know what she would think if she woke up now, and saw me gawking upon her. I had been successful at stealing glances of her the first couple of weeks, but more and more often I could see her eyes find mine as I was staring at her.<br>She seemed so confused, all the time. I wanted to tell her to not be confused, but she had every right to.  
>"Don't leave me" she pleaded, crawling closer, snuggling into the crook of my neck. I knew that she was probably sleep talking, but I couldn't help myself.<br>"I'll never leave you. If I left you I would leave only as third of myself. Because one would be broken, and one would be yours." I pressed my lips upon her head, smelling the floral of her dark hair. It had some kind of husky shade to it, the smell I mean. It was as intoxicating as drugs, and I couldn't think of anything more addictive than that other than her soft skin.  
>I forced myself not to crush the small girl with my arms, I knew she was strong as a bull, but her tender figure just seemed so fragile against me. I wanted her closer to me, I wanted her under my clothes, but if I pressed her harder against me I was afraid I might break her.<br>My body drifted off onto a light state of sleep, I had to be ready, even when I was sleeping. Nothing was going to hurt her, I was going to protect her with my life. A twirling image of green and beige and brown entered my mind, and soon I was dreaming dreams inspired by Clove, the deliciously beautiful girl snuggled onto me.

* * *

><p><strong>Did you like it? Tell me about it then! (:<strong>


End file.
